Bayushi Tangen (I)
Bayushi Tangen was the creator of the Dark Sword of the Bitter Lies, and the first master of its unorthodox fighting style. Demeanor Tangen was named after his great-great-grandfather, Bayushi Tangen, the Scorpion Clan Champion who wrote Lies. Tangen was impulsive, rash and eager to prove his worth, genuinely believing everything that his superiors told him. He was loyal and a great warrior, making him the ideal pawn. Every task Tangen had been assigned had been fulfilled - not through skill or ability, but out of pure luck. Way of the Scorpion, p. 57 Despised by his kin A brash, loudmouthed boor, Tangen was notorious for annoyingly quoting his ancestor's work whenever possible, regardless of the appropriateness of the citation, and interpreted his good fortune as the natural result of his skill and talent. Secrets of the Scorpion, p. 26 The Shosuro family made an attempt on Tangen's life twice, and another, unnamed party made a third attempt, but the Failed Martyr survived each time. Tangen's supperiors started sending him on suicied missions, hoping to be rid of him, only for Tangen not only surivie, but suceed with his mission. In all this, Tangen never realized his own clan was trying to kill him. Bitter Lies Dojo Tangen founded a school on his own to rival the Kakita Dueling Academy. Tangen eagerly taught in the Dark Sword of Bitter Lies Dojo the Dark Sword style to anyone who came to call, though more often than not his students ended up seriously injuring themselves when they tried to replicate the techniques. His failure to die, no matter what, earned him the nickname "The Failed Martyr." Scorpion Coup Fighting the Unicorn and Phoenix In the second day of the Scorpion Coup a combined Unicorn-Phoenix force tested the Outer Northern Wall. The general Bayushi Togai led a Scorpion's Strike platoon, alongside with Bayushi Hisa and his Black Cabal, and Tangen leading a unit of Bayushi Ambushers, against Shinjo Tashima and his Shinjo's Thunder, Shinjo Mokatsu with his Striders, Shiba Shingo and his Water Elementals, and the shugenja Isawa Suma with his yojimbo. An entire Shinjo's Thunder squad managed to past the defender, entering into the city with no way back out. Otosan Uchi: The Scorpion's Sting, p. 58 Fighting the Lion The Lion forces led by Matsu Tsuko in the third day of the Coup assaulted the Outer Southern Wall, at the Emperor's Gate. Matsu Gohei commanded the Akodo Deathseekers, alongside with Matsu Chokoku with his Lion Medium Elite Infantry, and Matsu Yojo with regulars. They were confronted by Bayushi Aramoro with his Bayushi Elite Spearmen, Yogo Asami and Tangen with their Bayushi Ambushers, and Bayushi Kuritsu with his Ninja Bowmen. Otosan Uchi: The Scorpion's Sting, p. 60 Soshi Shugenja twisted their magic to defend the city, forcing Lion to retreat. Otosan Uchi: The Scorpion's Sting, p. 44 After the Coup After the failure of the Coup a few loyal Scorpion remained at Shiro no Shosuro when behind the Eighteenth Legion appeared at its gates. They set the fires that put to torch the castle, and one fifth of the legionnaires were slew by the noxious smoke which came from the poisonous herbs of the Shosuro Gardens. Tangen was one of the saboteurs, and survived the fire unscathed. He claimed to have been saved from the lethal smoke by a "divine wind". Way of the Wolf, pp. 114-115 Sidebar Clan War Tangen was renowned throughout the Clan Wars as a hero for succeeding against all odds and surviving in situations that should have killed him. The histories, though, did not record the fact that he was sent on those missions precisely to rid the Clan of his presence. Burning Sands His fantastic luck followed him as the Scorpion went into exile into the Burning Sands in the beginning years of the rule of Toturi I. Tangen was, naturally, one of the first to escape the clutches of the Senpet who enslaved most of the Clan, and he went on to wage a one-man war against his former captors. While vastly successful, Tangen's campaign came to a halt not because of defeat, but because he was forced to realize the origin of his victory: during a daring solo raid on a Senpet military outpost, despite the swift disintegration of Tangen's plan, a watchtower collapsed an crushed the entire unit. The Senpet commander, realizing his defeat, swore in defiance that if he must be defeated by dumb luck, let the gods kill him now; out of a clear blue sky, a lightning bolt struck the Senpet dead. Returning Rokugan Though Tangen eventually helped rescue the remainder of his Clan, his will and thirst for victory were broken. He made one last effort to test just how fortunate he truly was, attempting an impossible solo crossing of the Burning Sands back to Rokugan, and was sustained by a freak thunderstorm the whole of the way. Realizing that his victories were merely the result of freak coincidence and knowing that he would never truly be challenged, Tangen retreated to the depths of the Shinomen Forest to live as a hermit, eventually taking refuge near the Naga city of Iyotisha. He would enjoy thirty years of solitude before his hermitage was interrupted by a young samurai named Bayushi Kwanchai. Sensei Tangen refused Kwanchai's demand to learn the secret of the Dark Sword of Bitter Lies; he saw his luck as a curse, and had decided to let the curse die with him. Kwanchai would not relent, though, and after months of ceaseless pestering, Tangen eventually taught him the technique just to shut him up and send him away. He believed Kwanchai would not truly master the technique, as none of his other students had ever managed to wield it themselves. Not only was Tangen wrong, he had inadvertently found a pupil who was a better teacher than he. Secrets of the Scorpion, pp. 21, 26 See also * Bayushi Tangen/Meta * Bayushi Tangen/CW Meta External Links * Bayushi Tangen (Anvil of Despair) * Bayushi Tangen Exp (LBS - Black Hand, Black Heart) * Tangen Sensei (Web of Lies) Category:Scorpion Clan Members